24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
I bounce in the cool rush of waves
Taste salt on my lips
Toes touch and release unseen sand
I bounce in the cool rush of waves
Watch the winding flights of seagulls
Feel the wind blowing the sound of transistor radios
I bounce in the cool rush of waves
Past the breakers
A little too young for summer love
A little too old for sand castles
Wanting, needing, hoping to find a love that’s so pure and oh so true.
I look up, down, side to side I look everywhere for that bond that is strong as glue.
I walk the paths of lonesome souls head held high.
Maybe today I think to myself she will step out from the shaded area that lines the path.
With hope in my heart I walk searching for the first time my breath gets lost and the emptiness inside gets washed away like dirt in a warm soothing bath.
Finally the path has ended and as I step out from the tree lined misery, I look up and there it was your smiling face I have found love so pure so true the wait is over.
From the way we hold hands to the soft gentle kisses there is no more searching.
We found each other ironically at the end of the path of lonesome souls and our love has flourished no more will I be longing, and feeling empty, for love has arrived there will be no more waiting.
I call to thee, O’ sweet Mnemosyne
Gaia’s fountainhead; spring of memory,
Pull forth from thine father of the heavens
Thy legacy of Devine expressions.
Call into being, O’ mine Oracle,
All thoughts visceral and primordial
Lest they escape into oblivion
To sup waters of Lethe’s dominion.
Bring out the host, O’ Devine Memory,
As I genuflect humbly before thee
And quaff the elixir of passing time
To hold its hand in remembrance of mine.
by Karen Sullivan
Form: A Horatian Ode
lightning cracks
ripping across dark skies
demanding dreamers awaken
thunder rumbles
stirring their hearts and imaginations
there is nothing like
rain in the high mountain desert
droplets pouring down
like a million answered prayers
longings
into the embrace of a parched land
that has waited far too long
there is nothing like
a flood of words, lines, shapes, colors
tumbling onto the empty page, canvas
like a million answered prayers
longings
to soothe the ragged edges of a parched soul
that has waited far too long
One, two, three, four, five, six
Submerged and amused.
Thirty two, thirty three, thirty four, thirty five, thirty six
Holding, pressure building.
Fifty six, fifty seven, fifty eight, fifty nine
Bubbles dance and race away.
Seventy five, seventy six, seventy seven
Eyes sting, lungs protest.
Ninety six, ninety seven
They surface first, victory.
One hundred twenty four
Show off…
I take a deep breath
and plunge
Now I’m in deep with you
We swim around
Blissfully taking each other in
I notice your skin
Wrinkly and pale
I look at you
Asking with my eyes
“How long can we survive like this?”
You look away
And I know we can’t
You open your mouth
I want to scream at you ‘no!’
I swim towards the surface
My lungs screaming for air
But you hold my feet
Pulling me down
I try to kick
It’s no use
Your grip is too strong
I look into your eyes again
You don’t want to be in this alone
So I stop
I open my mouth too
You hold my hand
Pull me close
I close my eyes
Slowly we begin to sink
I realize it then
We’re drowning
Drowning
In our sin
My friends say I suck;
I think I soak.
I’m but an undergraduate
employed at a burger shack.
My friend is a star
but I’m stuck behind a bar;
My neighbor thinks I’m annoying-
he’s my only friend and now I’m crying.
I’m just a little kid trying not to be a square
(Surprisingly enough, that’s exactly what I am.)
But you have to consider my upbringing if you are to be fair.
I am but a pacific creature
I hope all these words explain to you my features.
I am who lives, you see
in a pineapple under the sea.
I feel weightless while
submerged
The sounds in my ears
are like a gentle thunder
I am free under the
Shooshing water
Creating ripples as I
exhale small bubbles
Looking up, I see
A distorted vision
Of the land
We call home
Much like many people live
Blurred
Focusing only on
Our next breath
Forgetting to
Admire
The beauty which
Surrounds us
In the beginning was the word
There are many beginnings
Not enough words
So I type the words but I feel
No stirring but anxiety
Anger, ripe trilogies of
Heroic offering with armored
Men on horses save
As if in battle scarred
By the years I spent in harness
Myself small child
Restrained and held
To protect me from running afar
I did that ran too far
Can never come home
Years passed I stumbled back
In tiny steps I grew
Aligned to other homes
None served as fortress nor
In tenth degrees did
Fall away protect or
Save me from my hero’s task
Jump on the horse
Hold to your banner
Escape and ride escape ride on
I am here a selfless girl
Inflicting my weapon
Manipulating my banner
Coming home a third time
Building the home myself.